Relation of the glenoid fossa to craniofacial morphology, studied on dry human skulls

The purpose of this work was to compare glenoid fossa dimensions and craniofacial morphology on the basis of standard lateral roentgenograms. To overcome the difficulties encountered in making exact measurements on living subjects, 59 dry skulls were used. Eight angular measurements were taken to describe the form of the skull base, mandible, and articulating surface of the glenoid fossa, four linear measurements to describe the position of the fossa, and one to describe the size of the whole skull. A close relationship was observed between the morphology of the articulating surface of the glenoid fossa and the mandibular morphology. The skull base angulation was associated with the position of glenoid fossa in two ways. Basically, the position of the fossa is related to skull base characteristics, but the location of the articular eminence in relation to the clival plane suggests that the mandibular condyle may cause a remodeling of the eminence anteriorly when the glenoid fossa otherwise is translocated posteriorly in association with the flat skull base.